On the sixteenth in the morning Mr. Patten took a Walk to where the French had pitched their Tents, and on his returning back by the Officer's Tent he ordered Mr. Patten to be brought in to him, on which Word came to the Town that Mr. Patten was taken Prisoner. Mr. Montour and myself immediately went to where the French was encamped, where we found the French Officer and the Half King in a high Dispute. The Officer told Mr. Montour and Me that he meant no hurt to Mr. Patton, but wondered he should pass backward and forward without calling in. The Indians were all drunk, and seemed very uneasy at the French for stopping Mr. Patten, on which the Officer ordered his Men on board their Canoes and set off to a small Town of the Six Nations about two Miles below the Log's Town, where he intends to stay till the Rest of their Army come down. As to any particulars that pass'd between the Officer and Mr. Patten I refer your Honour to Mr. Patten.
By a Chickisaw Man who has lived amongst the Shawonese
since he was a Lad, and is just returned from the
Chickisaw Country[1] where he has been making a Visit to
his Friends, we hear that there is a large Body of French
at the Falls of Ohio, not less he says than a thousand Men;
that they have abundance of Provisions and Powder and
Lead with them, and that they are coming up the River
to meet the Army from Canada coming down. He says
a Canoe with Ten French Men in her came up to the
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- ↑ The Chickasaws were a tribe of Southern Indians, domiciled in Western Tennessee and Northern Mississippi, who were traditional allies of the English and enemies of the French. After the Natchez War in Louisiana, the remnant of that tribe took refuge with the Chickasaws, who inflicted a severe defeat upon the French (1736), capturing and burning a Jesuit priest and several well-known officers.—Ed.
